More than 40% of higher education students are older than 22, and almost 70% are holding down jobs … More while taking courses, finds a new report on the “new majority” college student.
Nontraditional students now constitute what a just-released report is calling the 鈥渘ew majority” of higher education learners in the United States.
Titled The New Majority Learner Report 2025, the study was prepared by Genio, a provider of its popular Genio Notes and other education support tools and technology geared toward helping students deal with different kinds of learning challenges.
Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, the study describes the multiple, intersecting characteristics of non-traditional students, who now, it claims, comprise an ever-increasing percentage of the student body in higher education. It also explores the special needs and unique learning challenges faced by this group.
According to the report, the 鈥漷ypical鈥 college student is not enrolled full-time and is not a recent high school graduate. Instead, the following three characteristics capture the changing picture of today鈥檚 college students.
First, they are often what the report terms 鈥渢ime poor,” requiring them to multi-task in several areas of their lives, including taking courses while they are working and forcing them to juggle family responsibilities, career demands, and financial challenges while studying.
Second, they tend to be academically underprepared for college-level work. Included in this group are first-generation college students, international learners who are new to America鈥檚 higher education culture, veterans, and individuals from underrepresented communities.
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And third, many face individual barriers such as being physically disabled, neurodiverse or needing to learn English as a second language.
More specifically the report found that:
More than four in 10 (40.2%) of today鈥檚 college students are older than 22;
Almost seven in 10 (69.3%) are holding down jobs while taking college courses, a 10 percentage point increase since 2016;
Four in 10 (39.1%) are enrolled part-time;
Nearly one in 5 (19.2%) have children;
Three in 10 are first-generation students;
One-quarter of all students are immigrants, and 17.7% need to learn English as a second language;
About one-sixth (16.5%) are neurodivergent, a characteristic that has increased by more than 2.5 times since 2004. (Neurodiversity describes the idea that people think and learn in many different ways, but it often used to refer to conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and other neurological differences such as ADHD and various learning disabilities.)
The report also recommends five strategies that colleges and universities can use to help support these traditionally underserved students, including:
Introducing study skills courses designed for new majority learners;
Using assistive technology to promote college enrollment and better academic outcomes for all students;
Employing online learning to increase flexibility and accessibility and overcome many of the barriers faced by new majority learners;
Deploying early warning systems to identify at-risk students who need early, special support; and
Developing specific programs to support first-generation students in areas such as financial aid, academic advising, and campus supports to help them succeed in their academic careers. Efforts to create a sense of community for these students is 鈥渃rucial,鈥 according to the report, which calls for 鈥渁 network of support鈥 that provides 鈥渁 safe space for students to share their challenges, seek advice, and build relationships that contribute to their overall wellbeing.鈥
These interventions can be expensive so adequate funding is a challenge, but the consequences of not catering to the special needs of the increasing number of new majority students can result in even greater costs to institutions both in terms of reduced revenue but also in lost opportunities for educational success by a greater proportion of students.
鈥淓specially as higher education faces the coming enrollment cliff and, in the U.S., uncertainty regarding international students, institutions are facing a crisis of revenue,鈥 said Dave Tucker, founder and CEO at Genio in a press release. 鈥淭hey need to find ways to retain more students, which means improving support for their new majority learners,鈥 Tucker added.
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